Ten years after Daubert: the status of the states

J Forensic Sci. 2005 Sep;50(5):1154-63.

Abstract

This paper examines how many of the states have changed their respective scientific-evidence admissibility standards under the influence of the United States Supreme Court's 1993 Daubert decision. The authors offer a definition of what constitutes a Daubert state, and using this definition classify the fifty states into three categories. These are: Frye states (15 states, 10 with codified evidence rules patterned after the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE)); Daubert states (26 states, 24 with FRE-based rules), and non-Frye/non-Daubert states (9 states, 7 with FRE-based rules). The authors discuss how the reliability requirement varies among the non-Frye states, and examine how particular types of evidence have fared in the Daubert era. Finally, the authors offer some predictions for the scientific evidence trends of the states.

MeSH terms

  • Expert Testimony / legislation & jurisprudence*
  • Forensic Sciences / legislation & jurisprudence*
  • Government Regulation
  • Humans
  • Science / legislation & jurisprudence*
  • State Government*
  • Supreme Court Decisions*
  • United States